Joe just gave the roster to a few people publicly, so it’ll still be a while before it’s online. Here’s the 25-man group (DeWitt and Furcal will start up the middle in Game 1). Of course, this is all subject to change, if they decide to, as rosters aren’t due until tomorrow morning. But as of right now, we’re looking at:

The NLDS is about to get underway and there’s another battle for supremacy…the top two most-visited sites in the MLBlogosphere are this one and Mark DeRosa’s blog. We’ll have to try and upset them on the field and in cyberspace!

All kidding aside, it’s going to be a great series to watch. For the first time in the two team’s histories, we’ll be facing off in the playoffs. Since 1890, we’ve played the Cubs 2,024 times and believe it or not, we have split them evenly with 1,012 wins apiece. That’s pretty hard to believe.

Rosters are due tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. so tell me, who would you include and who would you leave off? And what’s your starting lineup for Game 1?

There’s a workout at the stadium at 5 p.m, with media availability earlier in the day, so our department will be keeping busy. And, as we did a couple years ago, here is a PDF version of the postseason media guide that we put out.

It’s certainly been an interesting morning, with Nomar taking over the managerial duties (including pre and postgame interviews). He and his bench coach, Mark Sweeney, made out the lineup, only to learn that Furcal had already told Joe Torre yesterday that he was going to take the day off. The chaos that ensued was hilarious…

Meanwhile, A.J. Ellis gets his first big league start in front of his wife and daughter, who made the trip up north. That was very cool of Nomar/Sweeney to do. Meanwhile, Tanyon Sturtze, our relever-turned-bullpen-catcher is the pitching coach for the day.

We won’t see many of the regulars, which is why Nomar assumes Joe Torre is taking the day off…it’s been good light-hearted fun all morning. We’ll see if NOmar has to go out and argue any plays, challenge a home run or pull his pitcher. He told me he was legitimately nervous last night and made out there different lineups.

Hope to see many of you at the rally tonight at Dodger Stadium. Turnstiles and gates open at 5 p.m. Our department will be pulling an all-nighter to crank out the postseason media guide, so wish us all luck. We’ll fly out tomorrow…still remains to be seen where the plane is heading.

Joe Torre just announced his rotation and this is the first place to learn who it will be.

Game 1 – Derek Lowe

Game 2 – Chad Billingsley

Game 3 – Hiroki Kuroda (at Dodger Stadium)

Game 4 – We’ll see where we are…Derek is an option, so is Maddux. Kershaw, too, but he could pitch out of the bullpen.

Joe also said that we’ll likely carry 11 pitchers on the roster, with Kuo a possibility (he’s going to throw an inning tonight).

Jeff and Raffy are both looking pretty good for the roster, too. Joe said that right now he’s comfortable with Jeff and he didn’t rule out either one of them starting, but said it’s unlikely they’d both start in the same game.

For tonight, Maddux is looking to surpass Clemens on the all-time wins list and Joe said he’d like to get him the win, if possible. Here’s the lineup:

Furcal, SS

DeWitt, 2B

Manny, LF

Kent, 1B

Ethier, RF

Martin, C

Kemp, CF

Blake, 3B

Maddux, P (and then Billingsley and Kuo)

Finally, apparently when Joe was in NY, he used to have players manage and coach the final game of the year if it didn’t matter for the standings. So, he’s going to likely do that again tomorrow. We’re not sure who will manage yet – Jeff Kent turned down the offer – but Sweeney is a possibility and so is Manny. Plus a pitching coach, etc.

Be sure to tune in on KCAL tomorrow, as that could be quite a sight watching Manny going out to the mound to pull Kuroda from the game. Or Saito going to “talk to Hiro” to get him through an inning.

Let’s be honest, how important is tonight’s lineup? In the grand scheme of things, not all that important, but let’s see if we can learn some things in the next three days that will benefit the team next week.

In case somehow you aren’t aware, Sunday night at 6 p.m. is a free postseason rally at Dodger Stadium. Free parking, free event and $2 hot dogs, cokes, peanuts and nachos. The players will be coming back from San Francisco and should be making an appearance around 8 p.m. or so…gates open at 5 p.m., so hopefully you’ll all be there.

Game 3 is officially sold out but some tickets remain for Game 4 at Dodger Stadium.

And finally, everyone’s favorite restaurant reviewer is up for the Pepsi Clutch Player of the Month and it’s up to you all to vote for him. For those new to the blog, that means Andre Ethier.

Congratulations to all of you and thanks for everyone’s support this season. It’s been an interesting one, to say the least, with ups and downs just like each year. But only eight teams will be playing past Sunday and the Dodgers are one of them. That’s got to feel pretty good. In fact, in the last five years, only the Cardinals and Dodgers have reached the postseason three times. But this is just the first step. Here’s to a lot more celebrations this month!

The magic number. Let’s hope it’s one by the end of the night. Posts could get shorter here for a tad, as we’re staying very busy this time of year. Tomorrow night’s game is sold out, but still some left for tonight and limited seats for the NLDS.

Will try to find out about Sweet Lou’s World Series ring for the person who asked…

Tonight’s game is easily the most important of the year, with tomorrow’s surpassing it. It’ll pretty much be that way until the finish line, so hopefully some of you will be out here tonight. Kemp is back atop the lineup and Billingsley is on the bump. Time to see what this team is made of.

We’re also honoring Dr. Jobe during pregame ceremonies, and you would be hard pressed to find someone off the field who has had as profound an effect on the game of baseball as he has. Tommy John, Orel Hershiser, Darren Dreifort and many others will be on hand to honor the surgeon who extended each of their respective careers and that of thousands of other athletes around the country.

Jerry Crowe of the LA Times touched on his career in yesterday’s paper in case you are somehow unfamiliar with all that he has accomplished.

Yes, it was yesterday, but since today is an off day, it’s Inside the Dodgers’ Fan Appreciation Day. Thanks to all of you who have made this such a great place to talk Dodger baseball.

Yesterday’s loss has made things interesting, but you wouldn’t want to run away with the division, would you??? OK, I’d much rather clinch at home but ultimately, the most important thing is just being one of the eight teams still playing next month.

Speaking of which, NLDS and NLCS are currently on here, so get them before they’re gone.

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